The tweak-friendly design of the new, top-loading disc drive is probably the most important change from a repair standpoint. That drive rests on super-soft rubber bumpers that iFixit says help lower vibration noise, though the "thin, cheap-feeling plastic" drive cover on the top of the system doesn't do much to block the whirring coming from the drive itself. iFixit worries that this flimsy cover might break through prolonged use.

Super Slim owners can pop off the oval cover on the side of the system to reveal a hard drive enclosure held in place with a simple blue Phillips screw. Take that out, and you can put in any standard 2.5" laptop hard drive and use it with the new PS3 immediately, without needing to play with the firmware or any fancy hardware converters. iFixit says the hard drive replacement process only takes about five or ten minutes, continuing a long tradition of easy hard drive upgradeability for PS3 models (though a firmware update briefly messed with that record in 2010).

Just like the PS3 Slim, the power supply on the new system takes international inputs ranging from 100 to 240V. The power supply itself is a little more energy efficient than the Slim system that preceded it as well, rated at 12 V, 18 A DC rather than 12 V, 13 A DC. iFixit suggests that hackers might want to augment the "imperfect" application of thermal paste on the CPU with some of their own to prevent overheating, though the GPU is adequately covered. Also, a rearranged set of ports on the back of the Super Slim means you can't move the motherboard from an old PS3 into the housing of your new system, though frankly we can't imagine why you'd want to do such a thing.

Overall, iFixit found the new PS3 to be pretty friendly from a repair standpoint, only requiring a Torx security bit and some relatively standard tools to open up. The pieces seem a lot easier to get at than those for the PS3 Slim, which was laden with internal metal plates and screws. The only real accessibility issue is the need to remove the entire motherboard assembly just to get to the internal fan and heat sinks, which seems like more of an annoyance than a serious problem.

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Kyle Orland
Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area. Emailkyle.orland@arstechnica.com//Twitter@KyleOrl

21 Reader Comments

not a surprise, really - everything seems to be going together more and more like cell phones and laptops... have to take apart the entire thing just to swap a broken keyboard or something that used to be a 5 minute job.

I'm really longing for one of these. I have a first-gen ps3, and find myself avoiding blue-ray/netflix in favor of iTunes for the simple fact that the ps3 sounds like a jet engine.

Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis. I picked up a used first-gen PS3 (with backwards compatibility) so I could play ICO/SOTC and FF7 and such. Yeah, well, it collects dust because I can't hear my five billion watt stereo over the noise after it warms up.

I thought my late-first-gen 360 (Jasper?) was loud, but it sounds like a rock next to the PS3.

The top-loading disc drive killed all interest I had in this. Seriously, we're back to the PS1 design? I'm not sure how this is supposed to fit into anyone's entertainment center and still be convenient to use. Being well ventilated is one thing, requiring 4+ inches of additional vertical headroom available just to change the disc is ridiculous.

I'm really longing for one of these. I have a first-gen ps3, and find myself avoiding blue-ray/netflix in favor of iTunes for the simple fact that the ps3 sounds like a jet engine.

++++ My husband's also consumed a crazy amount of electricity and ALWAYS sounded like it was going to take off. My cat liked the heat it gave off though. Sadly the thing finally died from overheating two months ago and ate our copy of Dark Souls ):

He bought the 320GB bundle. Too bad it didn't last just a little longer for this one. Ah well now we both have slims.

I'm really longing for one of these. I have a first-gen ps3, and find myself avoiding blue-ray/netflix in favor of iTunes for the simple fact that the ps3 sounds like a jet engine.

++++ My husband's also consumed a crazy amount of electricity and ALWAYS sounded like it was going to take off. My cat liked the heat it gave off though. Sadly the thing finally died from overheating two months ago and ate our copy of Dark Souls ):

He bought the 320GB bundle. Too bad it didn't last just a little longer for this one. Ah well now we both have slims.

I just bought the laser assembly and fixed it myself. Works like a charm and cost me about $50.

I'm really longing for one of these. I have a first-gen ps3, and find myself avoiding blue-ray/netflix in favor of iTunes for the simple fact that the ps3 sounds like a jet engine.

++ Even when a game (I'm looking at you, MW3) is in a UI nav screen. Maddening.

I was going to add a comment about most of these iFixIt teardown analyses being inane, but I have to admit I'm fascinated by the thought of dropping a SSD in my PS3. Just to do it.

I did this when GT5 came out and its a huge improvement. Even with a crappy SSD, the added bonus is that my PS3 seems like it runs little cooler since it doesn't have the heat of the HDD to deal with now. I know its not much, but hey, every watt of heat you can save helps.

Weird, I still have my original fat PS3 (with BC) and it's whisper quiet! Now my first gen Xbox 360......That thing sounds like godzilla fighting optimus prime when it runs.

I have to agree with Trilby my PS3 had a bit of fan noise but nothing like my old 360 i could hear that thing starting up to play a game from down stairs. Those disk drives on those first gen 360s used to make a serious racket just during normal operation.

Weird, I still have my original fat PS3 (with BC) and it's whisper quiet! Now my first gen Xbox 360......That thing sounds like godzilla fighting optimus prime when it runs.

Maybe the people with loud PS3s need to clean the exhaust openings. I've found that going over the rear openings with a vacuum cleaner (with the unit turned off, of course!) can reduce the fan noise noticeably.

Having said that, I've personally found the PS3 noise to be a distraction when playing music (which is too bad, since the first-gen PS3 had an excellent SACD decoder), but not for games or movies. It's certainly no more noisy than my air conditioner. I've never owned a 360 so I can't give a fair comparison there.

Weird, I still have my original fat PS3 (with BC) and it's whisper quiet! Now my first gen Xbox 360......That thing sounds like godzilla fighting optimus prime when it runs.

Maybe the people with loud PS3s need to clean the exhaust openings. I've found that going over the rear openings with a vacuum cleaner (with the unit turned off, of course!) can reduce the fan noise noticeably.

This. After a year or so of use my phat PS3 was getting noticeably louder and spinning the fan up to full after less time than it had done in the past. Twice I stripped it down and gave it a decent clean and twice it silenced the thing for a few months, until the dust started to build up again. It doesn't seem to take a lot of dust to affect the cooling.

Having said that, I've personally found the PS3 noise to be a distraction when playing music (which is too bad, since the first-gen PS3 had an excellent SACD decoder)

Can you REALLY notice any difference between different decoders?

Good catch!

On the PS3, never. The above comment was based on magazine reviews, which used top-of-the-class digital A/V amps that can decode high data rate PCM through its HDMI input. I don't have one of those, so the best I could do was to use the optical digital out, which kind of defeats the point as its data rate isn't good enough for SACD.

Incidentally, I also have a standalone stereo with an SACD player, on which I play SACD discs from time to time. On some SACD/CD hybrids, I do hear some difference. In others, no. Only on a few SACDs do I hear enough obvious improvement in the sound to make me think SACDs are worthwhile.

Not a fan of the design - that metal frame that includes the heat sinks and covers all the components of the MB seems questionable. I suppose there must have been a reason but it seems less than elegant. Really don't like the top load optical media feature - that is simply not compatible with entertainment systems. But I suppose the thought is that anyone that is serious about gaming on the PS3 brand already has one and the ones that might still buy a game console over the next year or so will be a different class of consumer.

I do hope the next gen of consoles are quiet - I will take a slightly bigger enclosure if the noise level can be reduced. But that shouldn't be necessary if they properly plan for the thermal load up front.

Incidentally, I also have a standalone stereo with an SACD player, on which I play SACD discs from time to time. On some SACD/CD hybrids, I do hear some difference. In others, no. Only on a few SACDs do I hear enough obvious improvement in the sound to make me think SACDs are worthwhile.

I think a lot of that is due in large part to the fact that the "HD" disks get better treatment by the engineer duing the mix. Due to the way SACD is designed, I don't think it adds much sonically (and double-blind tests have shown you cannot discern the difference). I personally think DVD-A is superior but for some reason it never caught - perhaps the same reason that most people rip their music with a lossy codec - they just don't care that much. However, if you have to purchase the "HD" version to get a proper mix then that is what you have to do.

I was one of those people that bought a PS3 for purely blu-ray and netflix streaming usage. When it died, I replaced it with a LG player for 1/3 the price. Then the drive on the LG died and I gave up physical media altogether.

Non-gamers like me could be lured back but only with much lower pricing. At the current price, it doesn't make sense as a home theater computer/streamer. Granted, this isn't the target market. But the market does exist and will be target market in a relatively short amount of time. Perhaps the next gen consoles will get this nailed down...

++++ My husband's also consumed a crazy amount of electricity and ALWAYS sounded like it was going to take off. My cat liked the heat it gave off though. Sadly the thing finally died from overheating two months ago and ate our copy of Dark Souls ):

Did kitty sleep on it? I wonder if that kept the heat from circulating away...Maybe glue a heatsink onto kitty? Couldn't hurt. OH - attach some toast! That should even generate some air flow!